IDF spokesman: Arad strike demonstrates Iranian threat, Israel’s ‘air defenses aren’t hermetic’

Speaking to The Times of Israel on the scene in Arad where an Iranian ballistic missile injured 88 people last night, 10 of them seriously, IDF spokesman Roni Kaplan says the strike underscores the ongoing threat posed by Iran.

“We see here the manifestation of the Iranian threat,” Kaplan says. “We have a direct impact because our air defenses aren’t hermetic, although they are some of the best in the world.”

According to Kaplan, the blast’s shockwave and debris caused secondary damage to multiple buildings in the area, stretching for several blocks.

Among those at the scene is Arad resident Benjamin Lew, who says he rushed his family to safety when sirens sounded.

“We heard a really loud boom,” he recalls, after waking his children and taking them with his mother to the building’s bomb shelter.

The strike marks the first direct hit in Arad, but Lew says the city has been under frequent rocket alert sirens since the war began three weeks ago.

His mother, Maayan Taylor, describes the toll on families: “Our kids haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in a while.”

Lew adds that his ex-wife’s home in Beersheba had been damaged in the ongoing attacks, prompting him to believe Arad would be safer for his children — an assumption that is now shaken.

“It definitely doesn’t feel as safe,” he says.